Bring me to life
by Lightseeker
Summary: This story takes place after episode 4.22
1. Default Chapter

Rating: PG-13  
  
Notes: The story is untitled for now, but the title I might eventually give for it could be considered a spoiler. This is more or less the prologue to the story and my version of what could happen after the events of episode 4.22 "Bad Timing".  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Farscape characters. All Farscape characters, names and situations are trademarks of Jim Henson Company, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network Australia, and the Scifi channel.  
  
*  
  
Big blue eyes stared into the darkness, scanning the surroundings. Vague outlines of objects were noticed as the eyes searched for familiarity of some sort, but could not find it.  
  
A feeling of anxiety slowly raised and increased itself within. This place wasn't familiar at all. It felt alien in its scenery. Something just didn't feel right.  
  
A pair of small fragile hands reached forward in attempt for something the eyes might have missed, but all they managed to touch was air. Little bare feet touched the cold metallic floor and cautiously stepped forward. It was an awkward sensation as it tried to balance itself, so it wouldn't fall.  
  
Luckily it didn't take more than a couple of steps to reach the walls. Little fingers trailed them in exploration, hoping to find a way out. Any way found would do.  
  
It sighed somewhat relieved as it managed to find something resembling a door. The touch of the fingers upon the door triggered a response mechanism and the door suddenly slid open in front of it.  
  
All that greeted it was silence, yet the darkness of its confinement had lessened in this new and unknown area. The door entered into a larger room which was dimly lid instead of being veiled in total darkness.  
  
The amount of light, no matter how small, helped it to navigate around much easier. Moving about felt less awkward now and although the blue eyes still could not find anything familiar, they had instead managed to identify several objects.  
  
Those objects towered over it as the blue eyes curiously looked upwards, yet it wasn't prepared for what would actually be found up there...  
  
It's gaze was met by another pair of eyes. Suddenly terrible sounds penetrated it's ears. It's small hands covered the ears in an attempt to protect itself from harm.  
  
The sounds echoed through the room until they gradually died down and the only thing that remained was silence.  
  
* 


	2. Awakening

*  
  
" Aeryn?! Are you here, honey? Talk to me, baby...Aeryn!"  
  
He could hear the echo of his voice, but the only answer he received was silence.  
  
John blinked several times before he managed to open his eyes. It seemed that fate had once more conspired to lead him into the bowls of another research facility so he could be prodded and poked at by a bunch of madmen. It was like someone had slapped some sort of big sign on his ass. Why was it that trouble always came looking for him when he least wanted it to?  
  
He should have known something would happen just as everything seemed to be picture perfect. Once again he had been frelled by fate. John would surely have laughed at his predicament if he had the will left to do so.  
  
He winced slightly as the memory resurfaced of the beam hitting Aeryn and him. They had both thought that they were not going to survive it, yet he should have known nothing was ever going to be that easy. There was no memory of what had happened between the moment of getting hit by that damn beam and the moment of waking up in another doc Frankenstein's laboratory.  
  
Every muscle in his body ached, even muscles in places he didn't even know he had. He tried to move, but something was refraining him. The culprits seemed to be devices placed around his ankles, his middle and his wrists. He definitely was not going anywhere, anytime soon.  
  
If he had survived, Aeryn should have as well. That was at least one thing that gave him cause for hope. They had been through hell together and this would prove to be yet one more obstacle for them to overcome. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that they would be able to come out of this situation alive and kicking.  
  
His eyes absorbed every little detail about the room his unknown captors were holding him. Although he didn't have a plan, the pieces of the puzzle were already falling into place. But first he needed to do something else...he needed to get some rest, because without that he wouldn't even be able to pull anything off successfully.  
  
At the very moment he finally closed his eyes, John heard the sound of a door sliding open. Thinking it was one of his captors he decided to play dead in the hopes of finding out something he would be able to use for his plan. He awaited the moment he would be examined, but it did not come.  
  
John could vaguely make out footsteps coming towards him. Judging by the sounds they were created by someone who probably wasn't wearing any shoes at all. Even though his gut feeling told him to keep his eyes shut, he opened them to see the person who had entered the room.  
  
The truth was that he had expected some kind of hideous and weird looking critter instead the shock of what he saw caused him to scream.  
  
" No!! How could you do this, you frelling bastards!?! You had no right to!"  
  
Tears rolled down his face as he looked at the little child standing beside the slab he was strapped onto. There was no mistake...this boy was his and Aeryn's son. The boy was dressed in what was commonly described on Earth as a hospital gown and he looked like he was at least two years old. A pair of curious blue eyes stared back at him. Aeryn's eyes.  
  
A couple of minutes past before John spoke again. " Hey kid...can you understand me? Do you know what I'm saying?"  
  
The only response he got was in form of a frown appearing on the boy's face.  
  
"Guess not..." John smiled sadly. " Well, that means I'll have to find another way to get us out of here and that's a promise, kid. You, me and your mommy are getting out of this jam alive even if it's the last thing I'll ever do."  
  
The boy smiled at him and stepped towards him. His hands tried to touch John's, but he was unable to reach him. The boy's head violently turned towards another area of the room and he backed away from John. There was a door situated in the part of the room where the boy's attention was focussed upon and as John heard the voices, he knew that this time around his captors were really coming for him.  
  
He instinctively knew that his son would be in serious trouble if those people found him. Who even knew what they were planning to do with the boy? John wasn't going to let his flesh and blood grow up as a laboratory rat.  
  
"You need to hide, kiddo. I don't know what they want to do with you, but you don't want to get caught by them."  
  
When John looked at the spot where his son had been standing, the boy had magically disappeared and he was nowhere to be seen. A small voice in his head was telling him that the boy had just been an illusion, but he chose to ignore it. There were other important things to concentrate on.  
  
John started to laugh hysterically as two aliens stepped through the door and into the laboratory. It was obvious to him that they had been unprepared and surprised to see him awake, lucid and awaiting their next move.  
  
They had absolutely no idea of what they had gotten themselves into when they had decided to take John Crichton for a ride, but they were going to find out and regret their decision.  
  
* 


	3. Discoveries

Untitled a.k.a. Bring me to Life, Part 3 Rating: PG-13  
  
*  
  
Unseeing eyes stared forward with a almost desperate intensity. If she still had the ability to see, her eyes would have been looking at a pile of small black and red colored crystals. It just wasn't fair...that one pile of crystals represented all that physically remained of John and Aeryn in this universe. Chiana felt like screaming, but found herself crying instead.  
  
She didn't even know how long she had been standing there, just staring at something she couldn't even see. It could be minutes, but it could also be hours and at this point Chiana didn't even care. D'Argo had been the one to bring her to the cargobay, so she could spend some time alone in there.  
  
She could still hear D'Argo cry out in pain and had immediately known something had gone very wrong. Little did she expect that her lover's anguish meant that her friends were never going to be able to return back to Moya again.  
  
"Well, old man that was certainly one hezmana of a way to go. I guess you wouldn't have wanted any other way. At...at least you were with Aeryn when it happened," Chiana laughed nervously as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.  
  
Her fingers trailed her neck until they found what they had been searching for. The ring John had given Aeryn dangled on the necklace she was wearing. Chiana just couldn't bear to part with it. It had belonged to John's mother before she had died and Chiana felt obligated to hold on to it, because even though there was a very slim chance of finding Earth again she wanted to return the ring to John's family. It was the least she could do and her way of honoring John and Aeryn's memory.  
  
She turned her head as she heard the familiar sound of Rygel's thronesled approaching from a distance. Yet even if she hadn't managed to pick that up, she could have heard him arguing two tiers up from where she was.  
  
" You are frelling farhbot, Stark. You were fahrbot the last time I saw you and as unbelievable as this may sound you are making even less sense than you did then," the little dominar voiced as he entered the cargobay trailing behind Stark.  
  
"No, no, no...you will see Rygel," Stark replied as he passed Chiana and halted at the boat. " I will prove it to you and I will make Zhaan proud of me. She wanted me to do this. She wants me to find out..."  
  
"Find out what? What's going on, Rygel? What the frell is Stark talking about?" Chiana inquired curiously. Her hands reached out to find the dominar's thronesled and when they finally did she grabbed hold of it.  
  
"That welnitz thinks he can prove that Aeryn and Crichton are still alive. He says that Zhaan told him that they weren't dead," Rygel stated, looking at the blind Nebari. " I do not think his search for Zhaan and his imprisonment by the Scarrans helped the frelled up state of his mind."  
  
The dominar wondered if he should tell Chiana what Stark was planning to do, but decided against it. His Nebari crewmate had been through enough during the past couple of solar days and even though Stark was insane, he didn't deserve to die. Rygel knew that Chiana would be angry by what Stark intended to do and even it even made Rygel feel uncomfortable and uneasy. After all that pile consisting out of crystals were Crichton and Aeryn's remains.  
  
Stark dropped down on his knees and grabbed a handful of crystals from the boat. He opened his hands and gazed at the crystals he was holding. A triumphant smile apeared on his features as he turned to look over his shoulder. " Yes. Yes. Zhaan was right. I was right. John and Aeryn are not here. Not here at all."  
  
" Of course they are not here. They're dead, Stark," Rygel sneered. "We all saw them die at the hands of that unknown alien craft that attacked them."  
  
"No...no. You don't understand, Rygel. I cannot sense them. I always sense the dead...I help them cross over. I help them find peace," Stark paused as he watched the crystals fall back onto the boards of the boat.  
  
" Are you saying what I think you're saying, Stark?" Chiana asked, still somewhat shocked by the implications of what Stark was hinting at. She did not want to get her hopes up and more importantly she didn't even dare to voice her hopes out loud.  
  
" Aeryn Sun and John Crichton are not dead...they are still alive."  
  
Maybe the universe wasn't as frelled up as she had believed it to be...maybe she should try and have a little bit more faith in fate.  
  
*  
  
Her vision seemed somewhat blurred as she opened her eyes. The faint traces of a headache lingered inside her skull along with an annoying buzzing sound. She was clear enough of mind to deduct that she wasn't on Moya, but where had she been taken if that was true?  
  
Aeryn knew that she wasn't among friends and there was no way of finding out what could have happened to her. She prayed that the baby was allright and that John was as well.  
  
John Crichton and his timing.  
  
The last thing she remembered was kissing John as the beam had hit them. After welcoming death it seemed strange to find out that she had been granted to live another day. Aeryn instinctively knew that John was not in the same room as she was or she would have heard him by now.  
  
Aeryn Sun stirred as she heard a voice faintly nearby. Trying to raise her arms, she felt something restricting them from any kind of movement. A prisoner then. She turned her head in search of the person who belonged to the voice she had heard. It didn't not take to find what she was looking for.  
  
To her left an alien, unlike anything she had ever seen or heard of, sat in a chair and gazed back at her with a stern and disapproving look on his face.  
  
" You should not be moving as much as you are. You're attempts are quite futile. You should rest instead. The procedure took a lot out of you and you barely survived it."  
  
"Procedure?" Aeryn repeated somewhat dumbfounded. She was fearing the answer that would come and quickly looked at her stomach. Everything looked normal, but she had the nagging feeling something was wrong. They had done something to her baby.  
  
" Yes," the alien nodded. " We were intrigued by what we found inside you and decided to study it further. We took the lifeform growing inside your womb and accelerated its growth, so we would be able to follow its stages of development."  
  
Aeryn turned away her head and tried to fight the tears that were forming in her eyes, but it was to no avail. She had not survived the Scarrans, so that her baby could be taken away from her by others who wanted to use it to their advantage.  
  
Aeryn would use her rage and anger to her advantage. Once she had found a way out of this place, she would make them pay for what they had down to her, the baby and John.  
  
*  
  
" Hi there! I would love to shake your hands and all, but it seems that I'm a bit tied up at the moment," John laughed as his eyes met those of the surprised aliens. They didn't look particularly happy. " It looks like I woke up a lil' bit too early for you guys. Unfortunately I kind of have the habit of doing exactly the opposite of what people want or expect me to do. I guess that's just part of my charm."  
  
The aliens exchanged looks and proceeded to head towards him. One of them picked up a syringe from a nearby table. John didn't need to ask to know what they were planning to do. He might yet have a surprise up his sleeve for his two captors if everything went according to plan.  
  
Another laugh escaped his throat as alien number two stuck the needle in his arm and emptied the contents of the syringe in his bloodstream.  
  
" Hey Harvey 2.0, where are you at?" John hollered as he walked around an abandoned playground. Large shadows were cast by trees surrounding the playground, covering almost everything. It looked like people hadn't been visiting the place for quite some time. " I know you're around here somewhere. Come out, come out, where ever you are!"  
  
He heard a squeaky noise coming from behind him. John turned around fast enough to see Harvey's face appearing from out of the shadows. At least the neural clone wasn't dressed in a bunny outfit anymore. It had become more than just obvious that Harvey had found out what had inspired John to give him that particular name.  
  
" I'm right here, John..."  
  
" I need to talk to you," John spoke softly as he picked a small piece of rock from the ground and tossed it away. " I need you to help me out."  
  
" And why should I help you, John? You did after all betray Scorpius after he helped you get Aeryn Sun back from the Scarrans. You were going to leave him in the hands of the Scarrans," the neural clone shrugged.  
  
" Okay fine, if you want to play it that way. Just remember that I actually helped him out in the end by nuking those plants to kingdom come. How do you think good ol' Scorpy will react when he finds out those frelling aliens killed me? For me to say that he won't be pleased would be a huge understatement, because if I'm dead he'll never get the wormhole technology he so desperately wants or even the chance to convince me to use it to totally destroy the Scarran empire. I thought that the one thing that matters to you above all was to stay alive, but if I die..."  
  
"I'm quite aware of that, John. Scorpius would not be pleased if anything were to happen to you and whether you want it or not you are important to him," Harvey stated as he retreated back into the shadows.  
  
"Got any last words of advice, Harv?" John asked with a grin plastered all over his face. He was glad it had gone without a hitch for once. The truth of the matter was that without Harvey's escaping from his captors would have become much more difficult.  
  
"Don't do antyhing stupid, John."  
  
* 


	4. Here's Johnny

Bring me to Life [4/?] Rating: PG-13  
  
*  
  
He wasn't going to let them know he had regained consciousness until it was already too late and he had knocked their asses out cold. They had removed his restraints thinking he wouldn't be much of threat in a unconscious state.  
  
His captors couldn't have been more wrong. Why was it that everyone always underestimated what he was capable of? Especially considering his track record.  
  
How many people died because of what he had done? Too many and he had a hard time living with that knowledge. And why had they died? Wormholes. The most sought after knowledge in these parts of the universe and he had it. Those people died, so even more could live.  
  
He was sick and tired of being chased across the Uncharted Territories by Peacekeepers, Scarrans and God knows who else. Enough was enough. After four years of being the prey, the tables needed to be turned. He was no longer the John Crichton he had been when he had first arrived in the Uncharted Territories.  
  
He felt like had been broken into all sorts of different pieces by all those individuals who had messed with his head during the past four years.  
  
Sometimes he couldn't even look at his face in the mirror, because he didn't like what he saw in his own eyes. Pieces of a broken man. He wished he could just get the chance to put himself back together again.  
  
However to be able to do that he first needed to get out of this place and grab Aeryn, the kid and fly to freedom.  
  
"Here's Johnny!" he yelled, jumping off the table and lunging for the nearest alien. Using the element of surprise to his advantage John knocked the alien out cold through a combination of moves he had picked up from Aeryn.  
  
One down and one to go.  
  
Unfortunately alien number two didn't like what John had in store for him and bolted for the door.  
  
" Where the frell do you think you are going, pinky? I wasn't through with you yet!" Swirling around John grabbed hold of his remaining captor and violently pinned him to the wall. The fear in the alien's eyes hadn't escaped John. In another time and another place he might have felt guilty for causing that, but considering what those aliens had done he really couldn't care less at the moment. " I need some answers and you are going to give 'em to me. Let's just start off with an easy one...what did you do to Aeryn!?"  
  
" A...Aeryn?" the alien stammered.  
  
"My wife, the center of my universe, my soulmate, my guiding star..." John spoke as he threw the alien on the floor. He watched as the alien tried to crawl away from him. "The woman who is carrying my child. Aeryn. Blue eyes, black hair, drop dead gorgeous and about this tall."  
  
"The...the female that was with you..."  
  
"Yes. What did you to do her?" John repeated as calm as he possible could. He had to restrain from physically hurting the alien any more than he already had done, because if he didn't he might not receive the information he needed.  
  
" Our scans showed us she was with child. This offered an interesting opportunity for us and we decided to extract the hybrid lifeform from her womb to study it. Our machines brought the hybrid to life through the means of an artificial womb, in which we could speed up its growth."  
  
"This child wouldn't happen to have black hair and blue eyes like his mother would it?" John asked, his voice slightly wavering. He already knew the answer to his question, but he needed the alien to confirm it as well. The fact that those aliens were capable of rationalizing their actions in the name of science disgusted him.  
  
The alien nodded in confirment, although he was unable to mask his surprise at John's question about the baby.  
  
" Okay, great. Now that that's settled...question number two," John paused a brief moment before continuing. He figured that the alien would know where he was heading by now. "Where is Aeryn being held by you bozos?"  
  
" She is in one of the nearby laboratories. Exit the door, turn left and head towards the end of the corridor. You will find her by entering the last door on your right. Your mate might still be affected by the surgical procedure and she will be closely monitored by at least one physician. Several guards are patrolling the area, you will not get far and you will never leave this base alive," the alien spat angrily.  
  
" You really don't know who you are dealing with, do you?" John sighed as he used a pantak jab to hit the alien. He kneeled down on the floor to check if he had really rendered the alien unconscious. A smile flashed across his face. " My name is John Crichton and you'd be smart to remember it. You made a very big mistake by interrupting the happiest day of my life and you will come to regret everything you have done to my son, Aeryn and me. You pissed off the wrong kind of guy."  
  
John found his leather jacket, his holster and Wynona laying on one of the exam tables nearby. He put on his jacket and strapped on his holster. Before placing Wynona back in his holster John gave her a good luck kiss. He couldn't afford to leave this place without Wynona. If there really were guards on patrol duty, he would need every bit of help he could get.  
  
He also needed to find out where his son had been hiding all of this time. Communicating with him was somewhat of a problem since the boy couldn't even talk yet.  
  
" Hey kiddo, it's safe to come out now..." John spoke, looking around the room for a glimpse of the little boy. He turned and walked towards the door where the boy had first emerged from. "I'm gonna take you to mommy and after that we are all going to go back home to Moya."  
  
It was then that he felt something grabbing hold of his leg. Looking down he stared into the eyes of his son. The little boy's blue eyes had a determined look to them as his gaze met John's. It was uncanny to see how much of Aeryn he recognized in the boy's features.  
  
He wondered if Aeryn had looked the same when she had been a child. Aeryn had been brought up as a Peacekeeper and John was going to make sure that his son was going to grow up in a loving family with his mother and father.  
  
" Come on, son. It's time to go," John stated as he picked up his son. Carrying the boy on one arm and holding Wynona in his hand, John Crichton headed towards the door.  
  
He had a mission to accomplish.  
  
* 


	5. Reunited

The hallway had been empty as he had made his way towards the laboratory where Aeryn was being held. John had half expected hell to break loose the moment he would step out the door and into the corridor. He had no idea idea if he was supposed to be glad about it since his experiences had shown him that if things seemed to be going his way something always happened to screw it up.  
  
John felt little hands grabbing hold of his shirt and tucking at it. He smiled as he looked down upon his son's face. Something sounding like a soft giggle escaped from the boy as he let his head rest on John's shoulder. In some way it seemed like the boy instinctively knew who John was as strange as it seemed.  
  
His son was remarkably calm considering the situation and it was something that unnerved him. John had no way of knowing what those freaks had done to the toddler. There was no way of knowing how the aliens had interfered with the boy's development, unless they managed to get one of the aliens to spill the proverbial beans.  
  
Coming to a halt in front of a door, John took a deep breath before touching the panel that would allow him entry into the laboratory. According to the alien there would at least be one scientist present in the room and he would in all likelihood be monitoring Aeryn very closely.  
  
The best course of action would probably be to run inside and hit the alien with a heavy and painful object. It was just too bad that an anvil just couldn't happen to drop on its head. He could of course just shoot the alien and be over with the entire thing, but that could turn into a problem since he had neglected to ask his own personal attendants where he would be able to pick up a nice getaway ship.  
  
John eagerly hit the panel and watched the door glide open. His gun was the first thing to enter the room as he scanned the room. The first thing that came to mind was that the alien had lied to him. Aeryn wasn't in this laboratory. No one was. Yet something compelled him to explore the room. Shielding his son as best as he could he finally stepped inside, knowing that if he remained where he was one of the guards on patrol would surely find him at one point in time.  
  
Lights on the consoles flashed and a low humming noise emanated from them as John walked passed them. John's eyes moved rapidly from one side of the room to another. He didn't want to be surprised. There wasn't a lot known about the people who had kidnapped him and Aeryn.  
  
For all he knew they had some kind of gizmo that could turn them invisible, but if they fought like the ones John had knocked out there wouldn't be much of a problem. He headed towards a slab similar looking to the one he had been held on, but as he drew near he noticed boots sticking out from behind the slab.  
  
Dreading that it might be Aeryn, John moved closer to investigate. Relief washed over him as he saw that it wasn't her, but an alien with his face split open and revealing several more eyes than the standard norm was. He kneeled down to check if the alien was still breathing and attempted to balance his son on his hip, so he wouldn't keel over.   
  
Hearing something move directly behind him, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and couldn't help but notice the gun pointed at him.   
  
"John? What." Aeryn dropped the gun's aim immediately as she recognized her lover.  
  
"I came to rescue you, but I should have known it wouldn't be necessary," John grinned as he got up and turned around to face her.  
  
Aeryn felt her mouth go dry as she stared at the little boy John was holding. It couldn't be, but yet it was. It had to be, because there was no other explanation for it. This boy was the baby she had been carrying inside her womb before the aliens had extracted it. She wondered how John had exactly managed to locate their son. Aeryn wanted to ask him, but now wasn't the time for doing so. Judging by his size he could be anything up to two cycles old. Placing her gun on the slab next to her, she reached out and touched the child's face.  
  
With a puzzled expression the little boy watched as a tear rolled down Aeryn's cheek. He then decided to copy the gesture she had made and touched her cheek with his fingers at the spot where the tear had left a trace.   
  
"Can I hold him?"  
  
John nodded as he delivered the boy into her arms. " He looks like you, Aeryn. He's got your eyes, baby."  
  
" Our son..." Aeryn spoke softly as she gazed into her son's blue eyes. "They told me they had taken him away from me, John. I thought I would never see him again. They thought they could keep me docile and under control by drugging me. They were wrong."  
  
Looking at Aeryn and his son a sense of pride surged through him. He counted himself a lucky man. The wormhole that had sucked him into the Uncharted Territories was the best thing that had ever happened to him, because without it he would never have gotten the chance to get to know Aeryn and the others.  
  
" Aeryn, I need to ask you something..." John paused. " Did one of the aliens ever say something about how we could leave this place?"  
  
" No," Aeryn replied as she shook her head. " I don't think they meant for us to leave their base of operations, John. And I have no idea how long they have been keeping us here to study and analyze us. From what I have managed to observe they have been very thorough about what they have been doing. I saw every cell of my body mapped out and displayed on one of the consoles and they wouldn't have done it any differently while they were analyzing you."  
  
" I guess that will mean that we've got to find a way to destroy the research data they've got on us. We don't want that stuff the fall into the wrong hands," John stated. He didn't like the idea of either the Scarrans or the Peacekeepers getting their hands on that data. There was no way of knowing how they were going to use that kind of information to their advantage. He didn't even want to think about it.  
  
" I don't even think D'Argo and the others know that we are alive, so it's safe to say that we will have to do this on our own."  
  
"Yeah, I kinda already figured that one out. I thought we could use mister multiple eyes over here to our advantage as some kind of bargaining chip. He's bound to know some useful things. So...do you want to wake him up from his beauty sleep, Aeryn?" John chuckled softly, nudging the unconscious alien's body with his boot.  
  
" I want to do something else before we wake him up, John," Aeryn interrupted as she placed a kiss on top of her son's head. It was something she felt that they needed to do before they continued with their escape.  
  
" Sure...what is it, honey?"  
  
" I want to name our son," she explained. " I would love to believe that we might all make it out of this situation alive, but if we do not I for one don't want our son to die without a name. Those aliens have already taken so much from him and from us. We have no idea what they have done to him, but I will not allow them to take anymore than they have already done."  
  
"I'm thinking you've already got something in mind..." John smiled, stepping closer to her.  
  
" I want to name him after two people who have made it possible for me to be here with you," Aeryn spoke as she returned John's smile with one of her own. " I want to name him after my mother and Crais. My mother wanted me to live the life she never had to chance to live and by naming my son after her I wish to honor her memory. Our son will bear a proud and worthy name and it will be Xhalax Bialar Crichton."  
  
" Welcome to our world, Xhal," John murmured. " Being the son of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton you will not have an easy life, but I guess you have already experienced that first hand. As long as we are alive your mother and I will do our best to protect you."  
  
A moan suddenly interrupted the intimate moment between Aeryn, John and their son. It originated from the direction where the alien had dropped to the floor. John was the first to move, his gun aimed at the alien. Several eyes had a surprised look when they gazed into the barrel of John's gun and realized what was going on.   
  
" I guess this means that we won't have to wake our sleeping beauty after all..." John laughed.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	6. Getting away

" If you're half as smart as you think you are, you'd cooperate and tell us what we want to hear from you. If you don't cooperate...well, let's just say that I'll let Aeryn take revenge on you for what has been done to her," John stated coldly as he signaled the alien to get up and sit on the slab. He smiled as he noticed how the alien's gaze shifted from him to Aeryn and back again.  
  
Aeryn's eyes were as cold as ice as they looked upon their captive. Had she not been holding their son, she might have already been more than tempted to strangle the alien. He remembered the gun Aeryn had placed on the slab and saw the alien eyeing it. " Don't try anything stupid..."  
  
" What...what is the child doing here?" the alien spoke softly as he sat down on the slab, painfully aware of the gun still pointed at his head and the pending wrath of Aeryn Sun. Given the warning the male had given him, he decided not to give another look at the gun laying on the slab close to him.  
  
" That is none of your concern," Aeryn replied as the look in her eyes grew even colder. It hadn't escaped her attention that Xhal seemed to recognize this scientist, which led her to believe that their captive could be an important man. Xhal's expression mirrored her own closely even if the little boy didn't notice it.  
  
" But how..."  
  
" The only thing you need to know is that we are taking our son with us. He will not be used for your experiments any more." Aeryn felt the anger rising inside.  
  
" The way I see it you've got two only options. You could let us just walk away and take one of your ships with us or I could blow this entire base to hell," John informed as a matter of fact. "I've become really good at blowing stuff up and destroying things over the years."  
  
" You cannot possibly mean this," the alien retorted.  
  
" The hell I can...your people attacked us unprovoked in the first place. We were just minding our own business and you shot us. You frelling shot us like you were out hunting to shoot some ducks."  
  
" Our actions were justified. You trespassed and we handled the situation accordingly. We could have killed you, but we did not do so."  
  
" Don't tell me you people pull this kind of stunt with everyone who lands on Qujaga?"  
  
" No, we do not analyze all invaders. The two of you presented us with an interesting opportunity, because you were outside of the Leviathan and an easier target than those remaining inside."  
  
" You realize that the shoot first ask questions later approach doesn't always work, do you? Had you contacted us you people would have found out that we didn't mean you any harm at all. Moya...our Leviathan had been injured in attack by the Scarrans and we had heard that the water of Qujaga had some kind healing properties. That's why we came to the planet."  
  
" You had no other intentions than the one you stated?" The alien asked with a surprised expression on its face. " You only wanted to heal your Leviathan? This Moya?"  
  
" Yes," Aeryn replied before John had the chance to. She walked over to one of the chairs near the console and sat down. Her gaze however never left the alien for one single moment.  
  
" We did not anticipate this option.." The alien looked from John to Aeryn and Xhal. Apparently the realization finally hit home as he realized that they had not been here to attack his people. They had made a mistake.  
  
" Yeah, we already figured that out. You should have just asked us," John countered as he shook his head. Perhaps it was to early to say but judging by the alien's reaction they might not have to use force to get what they wanted after all. He lowered his gun a bit before he continued. " So are you going to help us out of here? I have more than enough enemies already and I don't want to add another one. I'm tired of having my ass chased across the galaxy..."  
  
The alien nodded.  
  
" Great," John spoke relieved. He quickly placed his gun back in his holster and signaled the alien to get off the slab.  
  
" John, wait..." Aeryn got up from the chair and walked over to her lover. She needed to do one more thing before they left. "Could you..."  
  
"Yeah," John murmured as he took Xhal from her. He knew what she wanted to do the very moment their eyes had met. She needed answers and the alien was the only one who could provide them for her. John felt Xhal squirm in his grasp. It seemed like the child didn't like the fact that he was being held in his father's arms instead of his mother's.  
  
" Were you the one who authorized the procedure of speeding up my son's development? Were you the one who operated on me?" Her questions echoed through the room and were met by silence. She watched the alien swallow hard before he had managed to collect enough courage to answer her questions.  
  
" Yes...I was the one who authorized it."  
  
" Know that if it was up to me I would kill you without hesitation and remorse for what you have done to us. But John is right...we do not need to add another enemy to our list. This is the only reason why I will spare your pathetic life today," Aeryn sneered as she grabbed her gun from the slab. " I will never forget what has happened and if I find out that our son has been harmed by what you've done to him, I will return for you and give you a very slow and painful death. Do you understand what I'm saying?"  
  
The scientist nodded.  
  
" Good," Aeryn replied with a cold smile. " Let's go then."  
  
*  
  
~ Epilogue ~  
  
John glanced at the data on the console and caught himself yawning. Behind him the door slid open and revealed Aeryn Sun as she entered the ship's command area. He smiled as Aeryn took her place in the chair beside him. She had been with Xhal the past five hours while he had been piloting the ship.  
  
"How's he doing?" John asked as their eyes met. He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked.  
  
"He's asleep," Aeryn replied, reaching for John's hand. As their hands entwined she squeezed his hand softly and reassuringly. " He fell asleep right after we took off in this ship. I wanted to stay with him until I was sure that he was allright. I don't like not knowing what they have done to him and I cannot forgive them for what they've done, John. They robbed two cycles of his life. They've robbed us of the opportunity to watch him grow."  
  
" I know how you feel, baby. I feel the same way, but the most important thing is that he's with us now. We've got him back," John spoke, pulling Aeryn over to him and into an embrace. Sitting on his lap, she leaned backwards against him. It felt good to hold her, especially considering that they were had survived their ordeal.  
  
Aeryn nuzzled his neck and sighed softly. " You never did tell me what or where our destination is, John..."  
  
" Well...I vaguely remember D'Argo saying something about going to a diagnosan for Chiana and I figured we should go there. The diagnosan could check out Xhal to see what has been done to him and if he's allright..." He offered as his hand drew circles on the fabric of her black shirt. Xhal wasn't the only one he was worried about. John knew that there had been complications when the aliens had operated on Aeryn. He could have lost her.  
  
" And you also want the diagnosan to examine me to see if they haven't caused me any lasting physical harm," Aeryn added, reading his mind. After all those years of knowing John Crichton she had learned to read him, but she was still prone to guessing it wrong sometimes. He could be a very complicated man.  
  
" Yes, just to be on the safe side," John stated. A worried expression had taken up residency on his features. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he was able to do so Aeryn intervened.  
  
" You don't have to worry. I'm fine, John," Aeryn smiled as she kissed him. " However...you look like dren, John Crichton. You should get some rest."  
  
" Why thank you for putting it so eloquently, miss Sun..." John grinned. " But the way I see it, I'm not the only one who looks like crap. I figure we could both use some rest right about now. You know that on occasions like these I'm really glad that this ship has a build-in automatic pilot."  
  
"Really?" Aeryn laughed.  
  
"Yeah," He chuckled as he buried his face in her raven colored hair and inhaled her scent. John brushed away a strand of Aeryn's hair and teasingly trailed her neck with kisses. " I love you, Aeryn Sun."  
  
" I love you, John Crichton."  
  
Looking at the vastness of space and the blinking of stars in the distance, it was hard to imagine that only a couple of hours ago they had been prisoners and unsure if they would be able to escape with their skins intact. For a moment he closed his eyes and forgot everything around him...everything except Aeryn. There was no danger, no one chasing after them. No Peacekeepers. No Scarrans. No nothing.  
  
For a brief moment in time John Crichton felt at peace again.  
  
~ The End ~ 


End file.
